Master thesis - Path follower algorithm integrated in a multi-processo

Background


Automated driving is likely as the next revolution to improve the productivity and safety of the on- and off-road vehicle transport system. One primary application for automated driving for the Volvo Group is confined area off-road driving. It is envisioned that confined area driving require less complex onboard driving functionality than a corresponding system for public road driving. One reason for this is that parts of the driving complexity can be handled by infrastructure and an off-board system. For confined area off-road projects, the less complex automated driving functions are compensated by higher complexity regarding the electronic hardware environment.
Requirements regarding vibrations, dirt etc. are often more demanding in the off-road segment than in the on-road segment.


An automated driving function currently in use is a path following algorithm. It is today run on a high-end Linux system. The main objective of this thesis is to integrate that algorithm on a Linux OS in an embedded system.


In the following section follows a simplified description of the embedded system.


The embedded system has two processors, one which is running a real-time OS and one which is running a Linux OS. The two processors can communicate internally using a shared memory.


The Linux OS shall run the path following algorithm. It will receive the path over Ethernet, from a tool run on a desktop computer. The path will be downloaded prior to starting the algorithm and will not change during runtime. During runtime, GNSS data for localization will be received over Ethernet.


The path following algorithm will produce actuation commands intended for the autonomous vehicle. Those commands will be sent internally to an application on the real-time OS. The real-time OS will handle communication on CAN towards the vehicle. The vehicle will also provide some additional sensors, which can be used for localization in the path following algorithm.


Suitable background
Computer science, Mechatronics, or similar.


Description of thesis work


Objective


The main objective of the thesis can be broken down further:
Porting of path follower algorithm provided by Volvo to Linux OS. The porting work might include bring up of some parts of the Linux OS to the embedded system. Algorithm for receiving GNSS data will be provided by Volvo.
Setup vehicle communication in real-time OS, according to specification provided by Volvo.
Path follower on Linux is to provide actuation commands to application on real-time OS, real-time OS application shall output them on CAN to vehicle.
Real-time OS application shall receive additional sensor data on CAN from vehicle and provide them to path follower on Linux.
Add mechanism to download new paths to algorithm on Linux OS.
Demo in simulated environment or real vehicle.
Scope and Method
Literature study of path follower algorithms.
Literature study of multi-processor communication in embedded systems.
Implementation of prototype.
Test and evaluation of implementation.
Write final report.



Thesis Level: Master


Language: English


Starting date: January 2024


Number of students: 2


Tutor
Christoffer Markusson, 0739026883